Friday, July 26, 2019

Left real early and drove the 2 hour drive to Houston.  Went to the truck wash in Baytown. Even being early in the morning I was 5th in line.  After that was done I got fuel and went over to the Daily terminal in Houston for the weekend.  Getting my trailer worked on again.  Another electrical issue.   Tomorrow is laundry day, but today is sleep day!!!

Thursday, July 25, 2019

I left at 6:15 this morning and got ahead of the Little Rock curfew that started at 7.  Drove non-stop with no difficulties all the way to Bryan, Texas.  Much to my surprise I was able to deliver toady.  I couldn't believe that I made it in time!!  Then I went a few miles down the road to a new small truck stop for the night because I was out of hours.  My next load is Monday.  Tomorrow I'll go get the truck and trailer washed then go to the Houston terminal and have a reoccurring problem with the trailer fixed.

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Left this morning a half hour before sunrise.  I forgot about the St. Louis curfew and got there way too early.  Stopped at a truck stop and took a nap. When I woke up curfew was just about over so I left again.  The route the State of Arkansas sent me on was silly.  Everywhere but Interstate highways. The map below shows my Arkansas route today.  I stopped at the Petro truck stop in North Little Rock, Arkansas for the night.

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Left at 2 am local time and drove to the John Deere plant in Davenport, Iowa.  Loaded a John Deere 640E Articulating Dump Truck that is going to Bryan, Texas.  Yes, it is big!  

Was out of there before noon local time.  Drove to the Pilot truck stop in Lincoln, Illinois for the night.  596 miles today.  Not too shabby for a loading day.

Monday, July 22, 2019

Well it is back to the real world.  Went back over to the quarry and picked up my trailer.  Then followed them down into the quarry where the crane was and unloaded the crusher.  My next load is in Davenport, Iowa.  Started off that direction.  Stopped for the night at the Flying J truck stop in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  Same one that I saw the tornado from last week .  The weather is great here tonight, no tornadoes.

Sunday, July 21, 2019

My last day with the bike.  It rained this morning so I waited for it to clear up. By 9 am MDT I was on the road.  Had breakfast in Keystone the went over to Needled Highway in Custer State Park. 

The weather looked like it was going to get worse so I went back to the Harley shop and turned in the bike.  I rode 403 miles in two and a half days.  Going to sleep the rest of the day.

Saturday, July 20, 2019

Went back over toward Mount Rushmore and rode down Iron Mountain Road again.  Then over to Crazy Horse.

This is what it will look like when it is finished.

From there I went bak over to Keystone and got on the Black Hills Central Railroad 1880 Train. 

I took still photos on the way up and video on the way back.

When we got to Hill City the engine moved from one end to the other for the trip back to Keystone.

Here is a video montage that I made for you.

When that was over I went back to my truck for the night.

Friday, July 19, 2019

Left this morning at 3 am and drove to Rapid City, SD.  I got here a lot faster than I thought I would. Met the other truck that was bringing the other half of this machine at the Pilot truck stop.  The guy from the delivery site came and met us there and took us in to where we were to unload Monday morning.  We dropped our trailers there and left.  He went back to the truck stop, I went to the Harley shop that was across the Interstate from the truck stop.  I rented a Harley Ultra Classic motorcycle (the black one) until Sunday afternoon.

I left there and spent the rest of the day on the bike.  Here is a map of the route I took.

I started off going to Mount Rushmore.  I didn't go into the park because I didn't want to pay the fee.  I had been there before and I could see it well enough from outside the park as you will see below.

A friend recommended going to Custer State Park so after leaving Mount Rushmore I headed that way.  It was an excellent recommendation!!  Great ride!!!  One of the best!!!  Here are some pictures I took along the way.

There were several of these one lane tunnels.

Look very closely in the center of this picture.  See it?

Here is a zoomed in view of the center of the above picture.

After I left there I rode over to Sturgis.  Everyone is getting ready for the 79th Annual Srurgis Motorcycle Rally.  It starts August 2 and goes till the 11th.  My first stop was The Buffalo Chip.

From there rode up to the Full Throttle Saloon.  This place burned down a couple years ago.  They relocated it to a larger place and rebuilt it.

Here is the inside.

From there I went into Sturgis and rode down Main Street. 

In two weeks there will be over 500,000 motorcycles here and it will look a whole lot different!  Wish I was going to be here for it.  From there I rode over to where a friend of mine from Florida works now.  He moved here a couple years ago.  He wasn't there but we talked on the phone.  Will probably get together sometime this weekend.  Then I rode back to the Harley shop in Rapid City where my truck is parked.

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Had to time when I left this morning so that I would get to Kansas City at 9 am when curfew ended.  I was perfect!!!  Entered the curfew area at exactly 9 am.  

Home of the Kansas City Royals

In Iowa, lots of flooded farm land.  All the photos below are supposed to be farms, not lakes.

This is an exit ramp. If you look closely you can see the Stop signs at the intersection in the water.

Went past the Sioux City, Iowa Airport.  That is the site of one of the most amazing plane crashes in US history.  Click here for more information on it.  I remember this very well.  The video below is excellent about it.

Continued on up to Sioux Falls, South Dakota to the Flying J truck stop for the night.  Went in for dinner to the Denny's restaurant.  Well, it happened again.  I was seated by the hostess and promptly ignored.  Sat there for a very long time before I left.  I ate someplace else.

I was lying in bed watching TV when the weather radio went off saying that there was a Tornado Warning in my area and to take cover immediately.  I got dressed and went outside.  The sky looked cool.  Saw a tornado, not a huge one.  Here are a few pictures...

Here is the same system trying to make another one, but it didn't happen.

Never a dull moment.